1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a rotary engine power transmission system for use in vehicular as well as other applications.
2. Summary of the Invention
The power system includes a rotary engine or pump, which may be pneumatic or hydraulic in configuration. The power system comprises two separate components whose purpose is to convert rotational force into pneumatic or hydraulic pressure where that same pressure can be reconverted back into rotational force. This conversion can be bi-directional, meaning the transmission of rotational force can be from a source to a driven component, or from the driven component back to the same source. This provides for a regenerative braking action in vehicular applications. The purpose in a vehicular specific application is to convert rotational source energy into rotational power at the vehicles wheels, for acceleration, and to reverse this process to recapture deceleration losses. It would not be possible to list all the potential applications in this document but they would be considered to be any application where such a drive system would provide improvements in overall system efficiency. These applications could be in any device where the application of power in a place that is remote from the power source is desired. This could be in any transportation device but should not be limited to this specific field.
The basic configuration of this pump-motor is an improvement on the rotary Gnome aircraft engine of the WW1 era. The Gnome engine utilized a fixed crankshaft with the engine block, pistons and connecting rods rotating around the fixed crankshaft with the crankshaft journal providing the necessary offset to initiate reciprocation between the pistons and cylinders. Since this was accomplished by differential axes of rotation of the mass of the engine block and the pistons and connecting rods, the reciprocation normally associated with fixed block designs does not occur, therefore, the conversion of energy is more efficient than in a conventional reciprocating design.
The pump-motor of the present invention comprises preferably four cylinders and pistons with the cylinders attached to the moveable crankshaft journal and the pistons attached to the perimeter of the rotating pump housing. At the journal where the four cylinders rotate around the fixed shaft, there are passages present that allow a fluid or gas to pass into the cylinders, normally two passages would exist, but in some applications this number could be greater. A fluid entering the cylinder under pressure would force the piston away from the cylinder. That motion would be transferred to the perimeter of the block and become a rotary motion of the whole pump block-housing. In another configuration a fluid could enter at either end of the locating points of the piston-cylinders in relation to the engine block which can also serves as a flywheel to store energy.
The rotating pump housing of the present invention is supported independently of the crankshaft, unlike the original aircraft rotary engine. In the support housing for the bearings of the rotating block a shaft would pass through the housing, at the end of this shaft the offset crankshaft journal would be positioned. This would allow the crankshaft journal to be moved from a position where there would be a relative offset, in relation to the block's axis of rotation, to a position where there would be no offset. The pistons would remain stationary in their respective vertical positions in their individual cylinders even though the complete assembly would continue to rotate. By this action the pump-motor becomes a variable displacement pump-motor with a displacement range of from zero to twice the amount of crankshaft journal offset adjustment. If the journal adjustment was a maximum of 2 inches the total stroke would be 4 inches.
When a fluid is allowed to enter the pump-motor no pressure or flow is generated when the stroke position is zero. This constitutes a “neutral” position in a conventional transmission. As the stroke is increased the volume of the fluid forced is out by displacement increases. At lower volumes the pressure available would be greater. As the stroke is increased the volume of the fluid increases while the pressure would decrease. When the changeable stroke position is reversed 180 degrees a reversing of the flow of fluid would occur providing a “reverse” position when motion in reverse of normal motion is desired. The illustration in the accompanying art represents the 3 different positions. It should be understood that any position between the limits of the range in the illustrations is also available.